Every teacher and school leader needs the training, the tools, the time, and the trust to be able to use data to help students--and to help their parents better support their students learning. I have been fortunate to be part of a school that values and uses information. Doesn't every parent deserve that opportunity? I think so.

Teachers and mentors can have a magical impact on learning, but being a student can be just as exquisite. The roles of teacher and student are not as distinct as portrayed. Teaching and learning go both ways.

In February, I continued my conversations on global education with Lord Mayor of London Boris Johnson, Australia's Geoff Masters (CEO of Australian Council for Educational Research) and Susan Mann (CEO of Education Services Australia). I learned further about how technology is entering the classroom and how this is helping to broaden cross-cultural perspectives in education.

In the 11th and 12th grade, I had a student whose mother was in jail. He did not have much of a relationship with her. She had been incarcerated on and off for most of his life. One Friday afternoon, he told me she was going to be released. He had a car and planned to meet her after school across town.

With the digital revolution spreading its wings into all aspects of society, its inroads into academia are unavoidable. It is therefore essential that teachers be prepared both mentally and skill-wise in the use of technology in the classroom.

Come with me. Let's open the door to a parallel universe. Here in this parallel world, the rules are different because gender roles are flipped. Loving parents and teachers accept this strange culture as if it's not so bad, or perhaps even good.

With support from Feeding America West Michigan Food Bank and a local homeless shelter, Dana Knight overcame homelessness with her health and dignity intact. For several months this past fall, Dana lived in the strange world of victimization and kindness that hundreds of Grand Rapids' homeless live in every day.

Dance competition season is here! Right now across America, millions of young dancers are hastily sewing on last minute rhinestones, finalizing rehearsal details and buying enough hairspray to freeze an elephant stiffly into place.

The contemporary kid's dawn-to-dusk schedule runs over an unusual fact: The most crucial, the most fussed-about, the most prideful chunk of the long-ago kid's education is gone. Completely absent. One-hundred-percent missing in action.

A recent article notes that the TFA program is "suddenly having recruitment problems." The article reveals that applications are down 10 percent, yet the demand for recruits from the program "is extremely high," according to the co-chief executive of Teach for America.

Since the beginnings of the current wave of test-driven accountability, reformsters have been excited about stack ranking -- the process of sorting out items from the very best to the very worst. But you know what we still aren't sorting? The big standardized tests.

Technology has become further integrated into the daily operations of most Australian schools.
The entire teacher workforce can now collaborate nationally on innovations in practice that address the problems they encounter in implementing a new curriculum.